Higher Education Commons^™

Outcomes Assessment In Practice: Reflections On Two Australian Implementations, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

This chapter provides a critical reflection of the experiences of the authors in two different projects that have explored the assessment of learning outcomes of higher education students. Both projects were undertaken in the context of a growing higher education system and in an era of increased calls for accountability in higher education, and a ‘search’ for metrics to help monitor ‘quality’. Each project involved the development of assessments, engagement of higher education institutions and students, implementation of assessments and reporting of outcomes. While these projects both focused on measuring learning outcomes and were implemented in the same higher education …

Promoting Cross-Border Education – Provider Mobility, Sarah Richardson, Ali Radloff

Ali Radloff

In this four-part series, Sarah Richardson and Ali Radloff highlight the key considerations for strengthening collaboration around cross-border education. Here they address the establishment of international university campuses and joint-degree programs.

Promoting Cross-Border Education – Virtual Mobility, Sarah Richardson, Ali Radloff

Ali Radloff

In this four-part series, Sarah Richardson and Ali Radloff highlight the key considerations for strengthening collaboration around cross-border education. Here they address the use of technology to facilitate international mobility without movement.

Promoting Cross-Border Education – Researcher Mobility, Sarah Richardson, Ali Radloff

Ali Radloff

In this four-part series, Sarah Richardson and Ali Radloff highlight the key considerations for strengthening collaboration around cross-border education. Here they address both the physical mobility of researchers and collaborative research work.

Promoting Cross-Border Education – Student Mobility, Sarah Richardson, Ali Radloff

Ali Radloff

In this four-part series, Sarah Richardson and Ali Radloff highlight the key considerations for strengthening collaboration around cross-border education. Here they address the movement of students from one country to another.

Diversity In Times Of Austerity: Documenting Resistance In The Academy, David Moscowitz, Terri Jett, Terri Carney, Tamara Leech, Ann M. Savage

Terri M. Carney

What happens to feminism in the university is parallel to what happens to feminism in other venues under economic restructuring: while the impoverished nation is forced to cut social services and thereby send women back to the hierarchy of the family, the academy likewise reduces its footprint in interdisciplinary structures and contains academic feminists back to the hierarchy of departments and disciplines. When the family and the department become powerful arbiters of cultural values, women and feminist academics by and large suffer: they either accept a diminished role or are pushed to compete in a system they recognize as antithetical …

"Research Tools": Tools For Supporting Research And Publications, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

“Research Tools” can be defined as vehicles that broadly facilitate research and related activities. “Research Tools” enable researchers to collect, organize, analyze, visualize and publicized research outputs. Dr. Nader has collected over 700 tools that enable students to follow the correct path in research and to ultimately produce high-quality research outputs with more accuracy and efficiency. It is assembled as an interactive Web-based mind map, titled “Research Tools”, which is updated periodically. “Research Tools” consists of a hierarchical set of nodes. It has four main nodes: (1) Searching the literature, (2) Writing a paper, (3) Targeting suitable journals, and (4) …

Optimize Your Article For Search Engine, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

This article provides guidelines on how to optimize scholarly literature for academic search engines like Google Scholar, in order to increase the article visibility and citations.

A Rural Phd Candidate And The Grace Of Community, Jillian Marchant, Pauline Taylor

Associate Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy

Assessing International (Post)Graduate Education: A Research Agenda. Australian Universities' Review: 54 (1): 72-82, Tami Blumenfield, Maresi Nerad

Tami Blumenfield

No abstract provided.

Improving The Quality Of Medical Education, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

An ongoing collaboration is developing tools and processes to help prove and improve the quality of medical education in Australia through quality comparison, the sharing of expertise and high-quality assessment, as Dan Edwards explains.

Viper Faculty Development Workshops: A New Model For The Creation Of New Teaching Materials, Hilary J. Eppley

Hilary J. Eppley

IONiC VIPEr (www.ionicviper.org) is a virtual community and a “living” repository for online teaching materials in the field of inorganic chemistry. The Leadership Council of IONiC has developed a “Back to Grad School” model for creating new learning objects and for enhancing our community. We have hosted week long faculty development workshops where research experts from top graduate programs present cutting edge science and teams of faculty jointly develop materials based on these presentations. Participants are groomed for greater participation in the online community, teaching materials developed at the conference are tested, and feedback and assessment data on …

A Socratic Café For Critical Inquiry, Jody Piro, Gina Anderson

Jody Piro

This presentation will explore the completed research inquiry that developed from our overt attempt to promote critical thinking in an online forum. The implications for advancing critical inquiry in online formats for interdisciplinary university content areas will be addressed. The objectives of this session are twofold: 1) to introduce participants to the nine intellectual standards (Elder & Paul, 2007) used to analyze the critical thinking and Socratic questioning in our research, and 2) to discuss the structuring of critical analysis in participants' own classrooms. Participants can expect to participate in a cooperative learning activity to practice the use of Intellectual …

Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration: From Proof Of Concept To Proof Of Sustainability: Final Report 2014, Daniel Edwards, David Wilkinson

Dr Daniel Edwards

This is the final report for AMAC-2, entitled Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration: from proof of concept to proof of sustainability (OLT project ID12-2482). This project advanced previous work funded by the ALTC and was undertaken from early 2013 to mid 2014. AMAC-2 took the proof of concept achieved through the initial AMAC project with the aim of building an ongoing, sustainable and successful collaboration between medical schools in Australia and New Zealand.

Implementing Common Assessment: Lessons And Models From Amac Developed By The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

The aim of this document is to provide insight into the implementation of common assessments in higher education in order to assist in future work on conducting these kinds of projects. The discussion here draws heavily on the AMAC experience, attempting to broaden the learning from this project for use in future collaborations. The focus of this project has been on medical education, and as such, much of the detail is related to this field. However, it is hoped that the general ideas discussed here can be seen as informative for other fields and disciplines in higher education and at …

How Service-Learning In Spanish Speaks To The Crisis In The Humanities, Terri Carney

Terri M. Carney

Service-learning is a transformational pedagogy with timely application to the teaching and learning of foreign languages. In our current climate of assessment outcomes, language study and the humanities more generally tend to be devalued and rendered invisible by utilitarian models of evaluation. Incorporating service-learning courses and experiences into the foreign language classroom provides real- world immersion for students in their local linguistic and cultural communities, satisfies teachers’ desires to connect teaching and research to local community issues, and allows departments to meet institutional and educational goals. Indeed, service-learning points us to new definitions of old concepts—such as the role of …

Promoting Regional Education Services Integration: Apec University Associations Cross-Border Education Cooperation Workshop: Discussion Paper, Sarah Richardson, Ali Radloff

Dr Sarah Richardson

This discussion paper was prepared to inform the APEC workshop on Promoting Regional Education Services Integration: APEC University Associations Cross-Border Education Cooperation held in Kuala Lumpur from 20–22 May 2014. The workshop brings together university associations to support, pursue and work towards the achievement of the priorities outlined by APEC Economic Leaders. This includes the recognition of best practice in cross-border education (CBE), the identification of existing barriers to CBE, and an examination of ways to progress the priority areas identified. The paper highlights the key considerations for APEC economies in strengthening collaboration around CBE in the university sector and …

How Have Music Student Teachers Done On The Edtpa So Far?, David W. Snyder

David W. Snyder

This article contains the results from a recent pilot study of the edTPA student teacher assessment to be used in Illinois startingn in 2015. Student scores on the edTPA were evaluated in order to reveal areas of weakness in student teacher preparation.

Economic Growth And Internet Usage Impact On Publication Productivity Among Asean’S And World’S Best Universities, Hossein Gholizadeh, Hadi Salehi, Mohamed Amin Embi, Mahmoud Danaee, Ali Ordi, Farid Habibi Tanha,, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Noor Azuan Abu Osman

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Measuring the number of papers which are published each year, publication productivity is the factor which shows the reputation of universities and countries. However, the effect of growing economy and using internet on the publication productivity in Asian countries has not been discovered yet. The present research is going to figure out the publication productivity among the elite universities in Asian countries and also ten top universities around the world in the last twenty years (from 1993 to 2012). Furthermore, the current research is aimed to study the relationship among publication, gross domestic product (GDP) and internet usage. It is …

Effective Use Of Research & Publication Tools And Resources – Part 2, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

With the increasing use of information and communications technology (ICT), researchers are able to use computer software tools to find, organize, analyze, and share relevant information. However, there are hundreds of such tools to select from, for various research-related uses. Nader has collected over 700 tools that can help researchers do their work efficiently. It is assembled as an interactive Web-based mind map, titled “Research Tools”, which is updated periodically. “Research Tools” consists of a hierarchical set of nodes. It has four main nodes: (1) Searching the literature, (2) Writing a paper, (3) Targeting suitable journals, and (4) Enhancing visibility …

Effective Use Of Research & Publication Tools And Resources – Part 1, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

With the increasing use of information and communications technology (ICT), researchers are able to use computer software tools to find, organize, analyze, and share relevant information. However, there are hundreds of such tools to select from, for various research-related uses. Nader has collected over 700 tools that can help researchers do their work efficiently. It is assembled as an interactive Web-based mind map, titled “Research Tools”, which is updated periodically. “Research Tools” consists of a hierarchical set of nodes. It has four main nodes: (1) Searching the literature, (2) Writing a paper, (3) Targeting suitable journals, and (4) Enhancing visibility …

Promoting Regional Education Services Integration: Apec University Associations Cross-Border Education Cooperation Workshop: Discussion Paper, Sarah Richardson, Ali Radloff

Ali Radloff

This discussion paper was prepared to inform the APEC workshop on Promoting Regional Education Services Integration: APEC University Associations Cross-Border Education Cooperation held in Kuala Lumpur from 20–22 May 2014. The workshop brings together university associations to support, pursue and work towards the achievement of the priorities outlined by APEC Economic Leaders. This includes the recognition of best practice in cross-border education (CBE), the identification of existing barriers to CBE, and an examination of ways to progress the priority areas identified. The paper highlights the key considerations for APEC economies in strengthening collaboration around CBE in the university sector and …

International Service-Learning: A Synthesis Of The Research Literature, Roxanne Amerson

Roxanne Amerson

There is an increased effort to prepare students in higher education to work and live in a global world, especially in health-related fields. The focus on global communities with a strong commitment to cultural diversity is a high priority for many institutions of higher learning. To reach this goal, educators need research-based pedagogies to facilitate optimal learning outcomes. This session will look beyond the literature that presents only personal experiences and anecdotal evidence of learning to review research conducted with international service-learning programs. The review of literature includes publications between 1998 and 2012 and documentation as a research study using …

Improving Engineering Work And Study, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce

Dr Daniel Edwards

Daniel Edwards and Jacob Pearce discuss a study that explores the perceptions of the engineering workforce, including engineering education and barriers to participation and career advancement.

Allies In Learning: Critical Insights Into The Importance Of Staff-Student Interactions In University Education, Sarah Richardson, Ali Radloff

Ali Radloff

Discussions of the quality of learning in university education often focus on curricula. Less attention is paid to the role of student–staff interactions. In a context in which a host of factors place pressure on the opportunities for students and staff to interact, it is important to use empirical insights to inform decisions about how to optimise learning. This paper uses data from a large survey of students and teaching staff in Australia to suggest that students and staff should be regarded as allies in learning. It investigates student reports to suggest that frequent interactions with those who teach them …

Equality Of Google Scholar With Web Of Science Citations: Case Of Malaysian Engineering Highly Cited Papers, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Hadi Salehi, Mohamed Amin Embi, Mahmoud Danaee, Marjan Mohammadjafari, Azam Zavvari, Masoud Shakiba, Masoomeh Shahbazi-Moghadam

Nader Ale Ebrahim

This study uses citation analysis from two citation tracking databases, Google Scholar (GS) and ISI Web of Science, in order to test the correlation between them and examine the effect of the number of paper versions on citations. The data were retrieved from the Essential Science Indicators and Google Scholar for 101 highly cited papers from Malaysia in the field of engineering. An equation for estimating the citation in ISI based on Google scholar is offered. The results show a significant and positive relationship between both citation in Google Scholar and ISI Web of Science with the number of versions. …

Partnerships, Policies And Professional Learning: Experiences From An Australian Government-University Partnership, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

No abstract provided.

Liberating Insight By Walking In Other People's Shoes, Gail Rathbun, Jane Leatherman, Rebecca Jensen

Rebecca S Jensen

The researchers framed this program evaluation project as an investigation of the influences on teaching practices of a teaching center program participants and non-participants. Changes in teaching practices and the motivations for these changes of fifteen randomly chosen faculty were studied. Session participants will develop and analyze brief case studies using abbreviated data sets and three of the methods that were used in the study. Through hands on analysis of data, session participants will enhance their ability to evaluate the conclusions drawn by the researchers and become familiar with useful analytical frameworks that they can use in their own research. …

33 Tips To Maximize Articles’ Citation Frequency, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

The number of citations contributes to over 30% in the university rankings. Therefore, most of the scientists are looking for an effective method to increase their citation record. On the other hand, increase research visibility in the academic world in order to receive comments and citations from fellow researchers across the globe, is essential. Publishing a high quality paper in scientific journals is only the mid point towards receiving citation in the future. The balance of the journey is completed by disseminating the publications by using the proper “Research Tools”. This presentation provides 33 different tips for increasing the citation …

Ethical And Unethical Methods Of Plagiarism Prevention In Academic Writing, Kaveh Bakhtiyari, Hadi Salehi, Mohamed Amin Embi, Masoud Shakiba, Azam Zavvari, Masoomeh Shahbazi-Moghadam, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Marjan Mohammadjafari

Nader Ale Ebrahim